Baby Blues
by systematic-alchemy
Summary: Fred thinks of way to save baby Connor from the Quor'Toth.
1. Chapter 1

"Did you hear Sahjhan say that the Quor'Toth could only be opened once?" Gunn asked as he paced Fred's room. He couldn't sit still after seeing Angel go after Wes like that. "And I'm not getting used to Wes not being around anymore any time soon."

Fred lit up like lightbulb. "Sahjhan didn't say that the Quor'Toth could be opened once, he said he could only open it once. What if we found someone else to open it for us?"

"Like who?"

"That girl that restored Angel's soul. Wesley said that it was the first spell she learned, and if she's that powerful, she has to be able to do it, right?" Fred, without waiting for an answer, torpedoed downstairs. Wesley left his address book behind and she found a current number for Willow.

Not caring about the middle of the nightness, Fred dialed. The sleepy hello was cut short by Fred asking, "Is this Willow?"

"Hold on." The scream of Willow's name made Fred pull the phone away from her ear for a moment. Then a shaky voice answered. "This is Willow."

"Willow, my name's Fred. I work with Angel. We need your help real bad. Angel's son was kidnapped to a hell dimension, and you need to help us get him back."

"I can't help you. Hold on, Angel's son? Which one? Spike's here, so it has to be Penn or Lawson. And why would you want to save them?" Willow sometimes hated her eidetic memory after reading the Watchers' Diaries about Angelus.

"No not a vampire childe, a human child. Angel has an infant son named Connor. He's human and in a hell dimension and we have to get him. He's so small and in hell. We have to… you have to help us get him. Please. We'll do anything. He's just so tiny and helpless and in hell." Fred's hysteria took over and Gunn took the phone off her.

"What she means to say…"

"Is that there's a human infant in hell that needs my help?" Willow asked as she yawned. "Please tell me you've at least tried everything else under the sun before calling me?"

"The sun, moon, and stars. Even tried a law firm." Gunn watched Fred regain composure only to lose it again. "Look, we need the big guns, and you're it."

"I'll call you back as soon as I can. Where can I reach you?" Willow asked as she took the cordless with her down the hall.

"We're at the Hyperion."

"This may take awhile. Sleep with the phone."

"There's no sleep to be had." But Gunn was talking to a dial tone.

"Well?" Fred asked with all the hope in the world shining out her eyes.

"She'll call us back."

* * *

Willow knocked on Buffy's door with her hands shaking with withdrawal. "Buffy it's an emergency. There's a baby's life at stake. As in helpless infant in a hell dimension."

The door opened and Buffy stood there looking like she hadn't slept in two weeks and hair a rat's nest of tangles. But she had her blubbery face on. "A baby?"

"Yeah. They need me to get them into the hell dimension and I don't know what to do. Please tell me that I can use magic this one last time. It's a baby, and I don't think I can say no. Tell me it's OK?" Willow asked as another wave of shivers ran through her.

"We'll bring you back from this. You know we will. But if we're going into a hell dimension, we'll need all the firepower we can get. Let's get ready to go. Call them back and tell them we're on our way." Buffy doubled back. "Where are we going?"

"LA. The baby's Angel's." Willow waited to see Buffy's reaction.

"Angel has a baby? But he's a vampire and celibate."

"I didn't get all the details, but I'm assuming something mystical happened. We should get moving." Willow knew that a big spell all of a sudden would rip her in two, but she had an idea how to avoid that.

* * *

Buffy and Spike entered the Magic Box both curious what Willow needed from here. The table was full of books… blank books. They didn't even have titles. "This doesn't bode well." Spike peered through the gloom.

"Willow?" Buffy opened the training room door and found a woman in the middle of a candle circle. If the hair weren't black, she'd swear it was Willow standing there, but it looked like they had their own crisis here. "What'd you do with Willow?"

"Buffy," Spike said. "That is Willow."

When Willow turned to face Spike and Buffy, her black eyes had them taking several steps back. "We need to go. The child's in Quor'Toth and time moves differently there."

"We need to get to LA first. We need to get Angel." Buffy held her cringing at Willow's dark etherealness inside.

"Take my hands." Willow's voice echoed through both of them and they did as bade.

A nauseating moment later and the three of them were in the middle of a hotel lobby. "What the?"

"Welcome to the Hyperion. Angel lives and works here." Willow pointed to the office where a glimpse of Angel caught their eyes before he stood in front of them.

"Willow? Ah Buffy what are you doing here? With Spike? Who you're sleeping with?" Angel straightened himself. "You know what, I don't care. We need to get my son. Willow, Fred said you can rip reality and get us into Quor'Toth?"

"Something like that." Willow held her arms out and the four of them were surrounded by a red glow. And the Hyperion melted away. Replaced by charred earth and red skies. "Welcome to Quor'Toth. Connor's this way, but it might take time to find him. He's been here for years."

Buffy threw up on Spike's boot. "Sorry. Two teleporting trips back to back didn't sit well in the tummy."

Spike rolled his eyes but said nothing, and any smart ass comment he wanted to make to Angel died. Angel looked like he'd kill at the slightest annoyance. "Let's just find the little nipper and get back home, yeah?"


	2. Chapter 2

Angel wanted no part of the discussion between Buffy and Spike. All he cared about was his son, and they were tittering on about Willow's addiction and how they didn't know if she could come back from it this time. He didn't care about Willow, never had. To him she was a useful tool and nothing more.

When Willow put her hand up to tell them to stop, Buffy and Spike weren't paying attention and Buffy collided with Angel's back. He turned and growled at her before turning back to Willow. "What is it?"

"Your son." She pointed into the valley at two specks he could barely see.

"I don't see anything." Buffy said squinting.

"Let's go." Angel started down the steep hill, sliding more than walking.

Willow followed on his heels. Buffy and Spike shared a glance and a shrug before they too followed Angel.

It took what passed for a day in this hell to catch up to Connor. When they did a beast the size of twenty linebackers attacked. Holtz reacted first pushing a toddler behind him. The creature swiped claws longer than golf clubs and pieces of Holtz slipped to the ground. Willow built a spell up and let it explode, turning the monster into the next pile of parts. The toddler didn't scream at the sight of the gore, or cry over Holtz dying, but rather waddled up to Buffy, since she was closest, and poked her in the shin.

"You're real."

She bent over and asked him, "What's your name?"

"Stephen. What's yours?"

"Buffy."

"My father told me there were no humans here." Stephen poked Spike, then Willow, and stopped in front of Angel. "You look like my dream."

Angel's anger cracked, and he sank down to the boy's level, pulling Stephen into his arms. "Connor. My son."

Spike tapped Willow on the shoulder. "Let's go home now. You can get us there?"

"Of course." She touched Angel's shoulder as he held his son, took Buffy's hand, and nodded at Spike, signalling him to take Buffy's hand. An instant later, they were in the middle of the Hyperion lobby. Buffy threw up again.

Looking on Fred and Gunn were confused. "Didn't they disappear less than an hour ago?"

"Uh huh." Fred nodded.

"Thought so. Now there's a toddler?"

"Time must work differently there."

Stephen's bulged at the sight of the Hyperion. "Oh." He squirmed out of Angel's arms and ran around the lobby, touching everything. And all went well until he pulled his penis out and peed on the floor.

"I think we'll let Angel clean that up," Gunn said.

"Agreed," replied Fred. "But I think one of the men here should show little Connor the bathroom."

"That leaves me doesn't it?" Gunn asked. "The vampires never had to use one. It'll come in handy when I have my own, I guess."

"Connor, why don't I show you how we do that in this dimension."

"I'm Stephen, not Connor." His upset face was reminiscent of Mr. T's in its intensity.

"You still need to learn how to use a toilet, so don't be a punk, and follow me."

The toddler followed after he saw the nods from the ones that tried to save his father. The room they went to was small but was a color he didn't know. "What color?"

"White." Gunn felt bad for the kid, the Quor'Toth must have earned its rep of the darkest of dark dimension. "Check this out."

"What that?"

"It's a toilet and you pee in it then push this handle down like this." Gunn flushed the commode.

Stephen's eyes were saucer wide with a small O for a mouth. "Wow. Can I poop in it too?"

"As a matter of fact." Gunn smiled until Stephen dropped his pants and crawled onto the toilet. "Okay then. Call me when you're done and I'll show you how to wash your hands."

The kid had to hold himself up, so he didn't fall in, and Gunn left the door open a crack and stood right at the door just in case.

Soap didn't go over as well.


	3. Chapter 3

"He seems to like her this way." Angel's eyebrow lifted as he watched his son.

"I don't think we can change her back, love." Spike lifted his eyebrow watching Connor and his favorite playmate.

"But with the black eyes and hair and scary veins, aren't you two even the littlest worried about her influence on Connor?" Buffy asked.

"He's got her wrapped around his little finger. She's a psychopath on a short leash, not unlike Spike here." Angel cocked his head to the side as he watched Willow make another energy ball for Connor to attack.

"I don't think we should encourage his aggression," Buffy said as her head also cocked to the side.

"The tyke's having fun. Let him. We'll kill Willow if she gets out of control. No worries." Spike's head was at the same angle as the other two.

In the middle of the lobby, Connor did somersaults attacking the growing black energy ball. For a three year old he had amazing balance and coordination. At the moment he held himself upside down with one hand as he kicked and punched the ball. One of his feet got stuck in the middle and the ball floated toward the ceiling, carrying the toddler with it.

"Connor! Stop giggling and think your way through the problem," Willow said in a flat but echoing voice.

"My name's Stephen, Wiwwow."

"And mine's Willow not Wiwwow. So when you get my name right, I'll get yours right. Now think your way out of this."

Dangling upside down, Connor put a finger on his chin and furrowed his brow in an exceptional likeness of his father, just smaller and upside down.

"Aren't you going to stop this?" Buffy asked Angel.

"Why should I? He's got more enemies than I do. The boy needs every skill he can get." Angel put his hands around his mouth. "You can do it, Connor! I know you can."

"You still have to call me Stephen."

Spike stepped next to Willow. "Don't leave him like that too long. The blood will mess up the tot's brainpan."

With a few wiggles and a couple kicks, Connor broke free of the ball and twisted so he landed on his feet. "I did it, Wiwwow! I did it!"

"Good job. Now after lunch we're work on something less magicy and more technical."

"What's for lunch?" he asked.

"Pizza." Buffy said as she offered the boy her hand. "Let's get you to the kitchen where Fred and Gunn whipped you up something nummy."

He took her hand and dragged her to the kitchen. "Piza! Piza!" His laughter died when he saw the pizza. Grabbing a knife, he stabbed it a few times then frowned. "What's wrong with it? A couple stabs never did much against one of these things before."

"It was already dead. And I doubt they had these in the Quor'Toth." Gunn pulled a slice away from the rest. "Smell that."

Connor smelled and then gagged. "Eww, that's horidable."

They watched him run off.

"I think I used too many fennel seeds," Fred said as she frowned. "Though to be honest I think he'd like my bark burritos more than anything we've tried to feed him."

"We'll take him out for dinner. Let him forage in the park again. He liked that yesterday." Gunn was trying to make a joke but no one laughed. "Just saying the truth is all."

Angel scooped the fleeing toddler up. "What's wrong little man?"

"They tried to feed my gross stuff again." He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.

"Well what have we fed you that you'd like to eat?" Angel asked as he carried the boy back toward the kitchen.

"Bekfat."

Spike slid up to Angel's ear to translate. "Breakfast."

"Well you're in luck. Your old man makes amazing scrambled eggs."

"K."


	4. Chapter 4

Connor looked up at Buffy as she did a handstand on a block of wood with apt attention. When she lifted one arm and stretched it out to the side and didn't lose her balance, his jaw dropped. Then she switched arms, still not falling, and he couldn't help his gasp.

"How'd ya do dat?"

Buffy brought one leg followed by the other down until she was standing. "It takes balance, inner balance as well as physical balance. Willow's turned you into a blunt instrument and that works sometimes, but there are times you need to be precise."

"Presis?" Connor's nose scrunched.

"Precise. It means exact." Seeing that the toddler was still confused, Buffy pulled her good luck piece out of her pocket. It was a marble she'd had since she was six, but she carried it with her at all times. "Snatch this out of my hand without touching my hand."

His first try hit the bottom of her hand sending the marble into the air, Buffy caught it and said, "Try again."

After five attempts and nearly losing the marble down a heating grate, Connor managed it. "Agin?"

"How about you try a handstand like I did."

Tongue pressed between his lips, Connor fell trying to do a handstand on the wood block at all. When he finally did it, he fell when trying to extend an arm. After half an hour, he wrinkled his face up at Buffy. "I'm bored. And hummy."

"Exercise builds the appetite. Let's go out for lunch. Do you want burgers or Chinese?" She fought him into his jacket. He put clothes on like he was doing battle and ripped them often, this time not being an exception.

"China."

"I see we're coat shopping too. There's no mending it this time. We may have to get leather or a suit of armor." Buffy sighed and tossed the ruined coat into the box Angel was keeping of things proving his son was special.


	5. Chapter 5

Stephen studied Spike as he drank more from the stinky bottle of poop looking water. He never smiled like that except when drinking that stuff.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, Pint?"

"Do you liiiiike how that tastes?"

"Grows on a man." Spike scooched off his chair to sit on the floor with Connor. "Wanna sip?"

"Ewwwwwww, it smells worse than piza." Stephen shook his head fast, hair flying.

"Should cut your hair."

"Why?"

"Long hair's no good for fighting. Gets you into trouble."

"Buffy's got long hair. She fights a lot. Better than anyone."

"She can get away with long hair because she's better than everyone." Spike's tone turned mournful. "She's too good for me."

"Father always said that love was when you put the other person before youself. Do you love her?"

"Yeah."

"Den be niiiiice."

"Come here, bite sized." Spike pulled the toddler onto his lap and kissed the top of his head. "You'll be a lady killer when you're older."

"Buffy says killing's baaaaad." Connor leaned back on Spike's chest as he played with the lid from Spike's bottle.

"It's real bad." Spike yawned, took another swig, and leaned his head on the chair. "Too bad we can't all be as smart as three year olds."


	6. Chapter 6

"When I left he was tiny." Cordelia talked while she stared at the toddler. "He'd not that big now, but he shouldn't have grown that much." She turned to Angel and slapped his chest. "What happened?"

"He got kidnapped to a hell dimension. Took Willow going dark to get him back." Angel's expression was pained as Willow still with black hair, eyes and veins, tossed an energy ball at Connor. The toddler dodged easily and Willow ruffled his hair before disappearing to go do whatever she did when she went away.

"Who kidnapped him?" Cordelia asked.

"Wesley and Holtz."

"Wesley!" Cordelia wasn't prepared for that. "That can't be right."

Connor rushed up to Cordelia and hugged her legs. "Cooooordy."

"He remembers me?"

Angel shook his head. "No, I told him about you."

"Oh." When Connor let go of Cordelia's legs, she stooped to his level. "Let's have a look at you mister." She smoothed out his hair and smiled. "How do you like it here?"

"Smells better." Connor laughed as she tickled his sides.

"I'm sure it does." She sat down with crossed legs. "So let's get to know each other. What's your favorite thing to do?"

"Fight."

"Other than fighting?"

"Cartoons." Connor pulled at Cordy's hand. "I show you my room."

Cordelia got up and followed the toddler upstairs. His room was across from Angel's and painted in varying shades of blue. But it didn't look like he slept on the bed but rather in a nest of cloth in the corner. "Why don't you sleep in the bed?"

"It better for jumping." He jumped onto the bed without trouble and kept bouncing. "See!"

"I see. But you should stop that before you get hurt."

"No."

"No?"

Connor tucked his knees up and bounced on his butt until he stilled. "Fine. Daddy said not to make you mad."

"Your daddy's a smart man." She saw that he had a television and vcr in his room with a collection of old cartoons. "Which one's your favorite?"

"Batman."

"Of course it is."

There was a kid sized punching bag in the corner made up to look like the Joker. "I can beat the Joker up better than Batman!" He flew at the bag and beat it until a seam split and the sand and stuffing poured out. "Uh oh."


End file.
